Things That Go Bump in the Night... or Day

 

Owls are known for their ability to fly without making a sound. They possess soft body feathers and flight feathers with fringed edges that reduce sound by dampening turbulence as air moves over them. Staying silent while aloft allows the owls to hear their prey and at the same time prevents their approach from being detected. Sometimes these silent flights end with the startled squeak of a small rodent as the owl makes a successful capture. Unfortunately, they also sometimes end with an audible "whump" as an owl flies headfirst into a pane of glass.

Two such unfortunate owls were brought to PAWS Wildlife Center in late October. The first was a diminutive Northern Saw-whet Owl that struck the front window of a Safeway store only a mile from PAWS. PAWS' Wildlife Admissions Specialist Cindy Kirkendall retrieved the owl from a small tree in the grocery store parking lot shortly after the incident. He was still quite stunned.

Two days later a homeowner in Lake Forest Park heard a loud thump as an adult Barred Owl bounced off a large picture window. The bird arrived at PAWS in a dazed state, but quickly perked up.

Both of these birds were very fortunate in that they did not suffer any lasting injury. They had certainly incurred some head trauma, but they recovered quickly. Both were released on the night of October 30. The Barred Owl was returned to Lake Forest Park and the saw-whet owl was released right here on the PAWS Campus. 

Whether they are flying by night or day, windows are a huge problem for birds. During the day, birds see sky, ground or nearby vegetation reflected in the glass and attempt to fly to it. At night, light shining out of a window or reflecting off of it is extremely disorienting to birds. Large numbers of birds representing dozens of different species are injured or killed every year in collisions with windows. If you would like to learn how to help reduce the chances that a bird will strike a window on your property, visit our wildlife common problems page and review the section on birds and windows.

 

Feel Good with a Vote for PAWS

 

Like a campaigning politician, PAWS needs your vote!  For the past year, we have been privileged to be a Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union Feel Good Checking™ partner. For every Feel Good Checking account opened, SMCU donates $20 to one of their seven non-profit community partners.  Since PAWS was elected as one of the non-profit partners in the Feel Good Checking program, we have received an incredible $3,860 from SMCU!

In order to remain a partner in the program, we need YOU to vote for us!  For just one week, November 1 to November 7, you will be able to vote for your favorite finalist. 

Only seven out of 21 finalists will be selected for the program—please help make PAWS one of them by voting now!

You can feel good knowing that your vote not only counts, but will help save the lives of more than 6,000 cats, dogs and wildlife in the year ahead. 

Please vote for PAWS!

 

 

Halloween is in the Air in the Latest Campus Update

Spiders, vultures and owls appear on the PAWS campus just in time for Halloween. Click below to access the latest edition of the Campus Update.

Download Campus Update 10/25/12

Purr Cocktail Lounge Party for PAWS

 

Love drinking delicious cocktails and helping animals? You can do both tonight, Thursday, October 18, at the Purr Cocktail Lounge 7 Year Anniversary Celebration! Deck yourself in your finest cocktail attire and come sip on ABSOLUT CHERRYKRAN inspired cocktails. A percentage of the proceeds from this event will be donated to help the animals at PAWS. Hope to see you there! 

 

Purr Cocktail Lounge 7 Year Anniversary Party
Thursday, October 18
Doors open at 7 P.M.

 

Three in the Tree

 

As I reported in the September 14 installment of the PAWS Blog, the Raccoons that grew up here at PAWS over the summer are now returning to their wild homes. I released another group on September 26 at a King County Natural Area along the Green River. Three of the Raccoons were especially adventurous, and after fording a small stream they proceeded to climb up into the branches of a large fir tree. They were extremely animated at first, touching, sniffing and exploring all that the tree had to offer. Then they noticed that humans were still standing on the other side of the stream, watching them. I took the following photo after they made this realization.

I can't help but anthropomorphize a little bit and imagine that those expressions are saying, "What are you still doing here?" Imagined or not, we acquiesced to that sentiment and left the young Raccoons to continue exploring the tree in our absence.

 

Girl Scout Cookies: More Than Just a Tasty Treat

 

The members of Girl Scout Troop #41236 were determined to help animals in need.

As they researched the idea and learned more about PAWS, they were excited to discover that they would be helping both companion animals and wildlife (especially bears and baby seals!)

They decided they would share the proceeds from their annual cookie drive and set a fundraising goal for “A Gift of Caring”.  It was a sweet success.

With the money they raised, they purchased items from the PAWS Wish List, and delivered their donations along with bright smiles.

Thank you Girl Scout Troop #41236 for all your hard work and your gift of caring!

 

 

 

The Buddy System

 

It's that time of year again. The orphaned Raccoons that we raised at PAWS during the summer are now starting to head back out the door to resume the wild lives that are their birthright. They are released in small groups—some are brothers and sisters that arrived at the PAWS Wildlife Center as family units, while others are comprised of unrelated individuals that were raised together.

On release day, the world must seem very big and a little bit scary. The last time most of these Raccoons were in the wild, they were tiny infants in a warm, safe den. Whether the groups are genetically related or not, they always stick close to one another at release. It's their own version of the "buddy system", and it seems to boost their confidence, perhaps because there are more eyes and ears nearby to help spot danger. 

On September 11, we released the first Raccoon group of the year at a large natural area managed by King County Parks. The following photos tell the story of the release.

The Raccoons are usually very wary when the carrier door is opened. After exiting, they may stay within reach of the carrier for several minutes. This youngster held onto the door while assessing his surroundings.

It is also common for the Raccoons to climb on top of the carrier and thoroughly assess it before taking an interest in anything else nearby. Such was the case with these two young males.

While the two males inspected the top, this female investigated the back side of the release carrier.

Raccoons are drawn to water, so we always try to release them near a good water source. At this release, the carriers were set on the bank of a stream.


As expected, the water proved irresistible to the Raccoons. This female dipped her hands in the cold water and began feeling around for tasty morsels.


The release site had abundant trees and good brushy cover. The Raccoons seemed to approve.


As the sun set, a parade of bushy, ringed tails could be seen receding into the distance. Furry, masked faces swung left and right with ears and noses twitching. Night fell and The Wild embraced her six prodigal children. 

That's not a Fox in the Henhouse

On August 24, an orphaned Bobcat kitten sat and peered into a chicken coop in Redmond, WA. She was starving, and the chickens on the other side of the wire must have looked too good to be true. In reality, she was so small and frail that a chicken might have been more than she could handle. Fortunately, the person to whom the chickens belonged recognized that the kitten was in need of help. She placed a live trap near the chicken coop baited with exactly what the cat was longing for—chicken giblets. The next morning the woman transported the newly captured bobcat to PAWS.

Although she weighed only 3.6 pounds at admission, the Bobcat kitten had the fight and attitude of a much larger cat. Had she been well fed, she likely would have weighed at least twice as much. We anesthetized her so she could be given a thorough examination without risk of injury to her or her handlers.

Besides being extremely underweight, the Bobcat was found to be in good health and injury free. We removed one small tick from underneath her left eye, but she did not have any fleas or other ectoparasites. Clearly she had been separated from her mother for several days, but she arrived in our care before she had declined to the point that she might have serious long-term health issues.

If all goes well, the Bobcat will be in our care until sometime next spring. By then she will have grown into an impressive sub-adult cat, ready to return to her rightful place in the wild.  

Saving Lives and Having Fun at PAWSwalk 2012

 

The sun was shining on Saturday, September 8, as animal-lovers from all over the greater Seattle area gathered at Marymoor Park for the 21^st Annual PAWSwalk sponsored by Seattle Weekly! Thanks to more than 1,300 walkers and at least 800 of their canine pals, dozens of generous sponsors, and 170 amazing volunteers, PAWSwalk was a great day for the animals at PAWS.

The grounds were abuzz with excitement and energy as Master of Ceremonies Lee Callahan welcomed walkers—both two- and four-legged—to the event. Dogs of every shape and size sported colorful PAWSwalk bandanas as their humans perused the Sponsor and Vendor Booths , watched exciting demonstrations by the Seattle FlyDogs team, participated with their pooch in Canine Behavior Center’s agility course, and visited the family-friendly Kid Zone.

After the walk, participants enjoyed more fun activities, including a Human/Canine Look-a-Like contest and PAWS Dog Games, before finishing out the day with a cold beverage in the Pours for PAWS Beer and Mimosa Garden.

And here is the best news—while we’re still adding up all of the generous donations for the final total, so far we’ve raised more than $165K! Your generous gifts will allow us to continue our life-saving work helping thousands of injured, orphaned and homeless animals this year.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you! 

If you weren't able to join us this year, you can also still make a difference for the animals: give online now and help raise the PAWSwalk total even more.

Thank you for making PAWSwalk 2012 a success!

 

An Accidental Vacation

 

When a member of the public arrived at the PAWS Wildlife Center on July 9 with a box containing orphaned squirrels from Seattle, we assumed we were receiving a litter of Eastern Gray, Douglas or Northern Flying Squirrels. Ordinarily, this would be a safe assumption. All three of these species are found in the Greater Seattle Area. But when we opened the box, we found four babies that had no business being on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. They were Red Squirrels, a close cousin of the Douglas Squirrel that is only found in the northeast and southeast areas of the state.

What were baby Red Squirrels doing in Seattle, over 150 miles away from the nearest appropriate habitat? As it turns out, the little squirrels may have been on vacation. Well, to be clear, it was probably someone else's vacation, and the squirrels were just accidentally taken along for the ride.

 The person who brought the squirrels to paws had found them in the heart of downtown Seattle, floundering on the pavement in a hotel parking lot. Their mother had likely made her nest under the hood of a car, and then the car had driven off with the nest and babies inside. How or why they finally became dislodged in the hotel parking lot is unclear, but there they were, and they needed help. We were able to give them the help they needed.

After seven weeks in our care, the Red Squirrels were ready to be released. On September 1, I drove them over 160 miles to prime Red Squirrel habitat in the Okanogan National Forest outside of Mazama, WA. I documented their transition back to the wild in photographs.

The four young squirrels were a little nervous after their three-and-a-half hour car ride. They huddled together in the back of their release carrier.

When the door was opened, they took turns standing in the doorway sniffing, looking, and listening as they processed their new surroundings.

As is often the case with young animals, they were reluctant to venture far from the carrier at first. This squirrel decided to climb on top for a different view of things.

Likely feeling exposed and vulnerable, the squirrel became nervous on top of the carrier.

After a few seconds, he scrambled down the door and went back inside.

Eventually, one brave youngster noticed the nearby trees. She jumped up on the trunk, paused for a moment, and then began to climb.

As she climbed higher, she began to find interesting moss and lichen on the trunk. She paused to sniff each new thing she encountered.

Encouraged by their sister, the other three squirrels exited the carrier. One of them paused on top of a stump before jumping to a nearby tree and scampering up.

Soon all four squirrels were climbing, running and jumping in the treetops. They stayed close together and chattered constantly to one another.

By the time I left they looked completely at home. Their long, unplanned vacation on the west side of the mountains had finally come to an end.